Patent Document 1 discloses a conventional heating cooker. This heating cooker includes a heating chamber that has an opening portion at its front surface and houses an object to be cooked. The opening portion of the heating chamber is opened and closed by an open/close door having a see-through window made of heat-resistant glass or the like. The open/close door is filled with a thermal insulation material. Further, a steam supply portion that supplies steam into the heating chamber is provided below the heating chamber.
At the rear of the heating chamber, a circulation duct is provided in which a circulation fan and a heater are disposed. A suction port is open in a center portion of a wall behind the heating chamber, and a blow-off port is open in a surrounding portion of the wall, which surrounds the center portion. The heating chamber and the circulation duct communicate with each other via the suction port and the blow-off port.
When cooking is started, steam is supplied into the heating chamber by the steam supply portion. Furthermore, the circulation fan is driven to cause the steam in the heating chamber to flow into the circulation duct through the suction port on a back surface of the heating chamber. The steam flowing through the circulation duct is heated by the heater and then is blown off forward through the blow-off port provided in the surrounding portion of the wall behind the heating chamber. By this configuration, steam in the heating chamber circulates via the circulation duct and is maintained at a predetermined temperature. An object to be cooked is cooked by the steam at the predetermined temperature, and the progress of cooking can be checked through the see-through window.
Prior Art Document
Patent Document
Patent Document 1: JP-A-2005-114350 (Pages 3 to 8, FIG. 9)